I was meeting with a prospective client yesterday who at the end of our call said that if they could integrate just a couple of the things we discussed, into their personal lives and their team dynamics, life might be easier. "Maybe it doesn't have to be this hard." This, of course, kind of delighted me. So I said, "Great. Go implement."
I've had conversations like this before. And this usually comes up somewhere in them: What might get in the way of implementing? "Forgetting. Getting busy. This stuff is hard. Others."
So I offer this, as I offer it to you. It doesn't have to be hard. You're going to learn a ton in your life. You're going to see a bunch of things you want to do better; behaviors you want to adopt; skills you want to master; things you want to create; things you want others to do. Not everyone is going to want to play. (It's not about them anyway. You start.) Cool. So get started, and stay present - no matter where you are.
One personal default (or team default - this tends to be universal) is often to be overwhelmed by how much you might want to do, how hard it might be to do it, the challenge of just getting it started. And in the end, to sometimes just to do nothing at all. It doesn't have to be this way, but somehow we go there.
The secret to movement and shifting behavior? Presence. Appreciation. One step at a time. Big or little.
Presence is actually what I notice gets in the way for we lovely, constantly evolving human beings. We have so many things on our plates, so much we want to commit to, accomplish, impact; competing priorities and values abound; demands on our time of the people we care about and want to serve - limitless...but none of this means we can't stay present to our lives, to our impact, to the growth and peace we want to foster within ourselves.
So stay present. As present as possible. And when you lose presence, no big deal, climb back on. (Quickest route to getting present in the moment? Check your body, check your breathing, connect with THE current moment. "What's real right now?")
And in the midst of all this presence...appreciate. Appreciate the current state no matter what it is. Beating oneself up for not creating the change they want, or simply just not appreciating and fully experiencing what the current state is, no matter what...is another place we stop movement. Another place we destroy internal peace. Painful. Doesn't have to be. But it takes presence, intention, appreciation, and yes, steps, to move.
I've just released a new paper (it's a quick read) speaking to some of this and sharing 14 principles for creating alignment (not only with others, but with oneself). You're welcome to it. To download your copy, you can access it at the bottom of this page - just enter your email in the "lead from the inside out" bar.
Pick one thing...just one. Even if it's presence. Work on that one thing. Notice what shifts for you. Don't let the simplicity of the 14 fool you. They create ripple effects.